Sunday, 6 July 2014

DECISIONS DECISIONS...........

I love fishing...
I love water...
I love all things fish related.....

And there lies the problems for me. I can never make up my mind what or how i want to spend my free time. I drift between different fishing principles constantly. I can never decide if i want to take my kayak out for a paddle or maybe my aluminium dinghy out on the broads for some predator fishing, or my fibreglass dory out on the estuary for some bass fishing. Should i grab my sea rod and go fishing for bass and flatfish, or maybe my float rod and catch some rudd and roach. I could take the big kit and camp up for the night in hope of a carp, or throw a little bag over my shoulder and a light rod in my hand and go ultra light lure fishing on a river. Or should i make a packed lunch and take the dogs for a good walk along one of the nearby rivers. I really do struggle to make up my mind sometimes.

I,ve always liked fishing, ever since i was a kid and used to pester my Dad to take me with him. He took me and taught me well in the art of catching fish from both freshwater and sea, and also to treat mother nature with the utmost respect. Dad also took me shooting with him and taught me a lot about the countryside and everything that resides there. I think sitting quietly and motionless in the bushes with my Dad on a balmy summers evening waiting for the rabbits to start popping out is one of the best experiences of my life. Sitting with Dad on Canvey sea wall in freezing conditions at night, fishing for cod and whiting, with only the light from a hissing tilley lamp is also a memory i will keep with me forever. These memorys and many more have made me passionate for our countryside, our trees, fields, hills and valleys. Our lakes, rivers, shoreline and estuaries. Our birds, reptiles, mammals and of course our fish....

When i,m not concentrating on my work all i can think about is water in one form or another. I have so many places that i would like to visit, not just to fish but just to be there. Theres so many species that i would love to catch, they don,t even have to be big, i just want to catch them so i can hold them and admire them for all their beauty and then slip them back into their watery home. Sometimes fishing, to me, is about the location that your actually visiting. There are some magnificent places on our small Island that i want to visit, the highlands and lochs of Scotland are definately calling me, as is the rugged coastline of the South West. The flatlands of Cambridgeshire are truly amazing, the feeling of solitude when your a few miles along a drain can be quite spooky, and the Broadlands of Norfolk, well i can,t even put into words how i love being there.

Theres so much more about water and fishing that i could ramble on all day, but i,ll save that for another day.

As i once wrote in a local paper 'WATER IS LIFE' and it certainly is to me...........